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Monday, 14 March 2016

YourDOST: a tech review

Being a student in the field of psychology for the past 14 years, it's amazing to see a tide of change sweeping across India in people's response to mental illness as a whole. The review of the mental health care bill in the year 2013 was a welcoming change (it took 20 odd years for a change...hmmm...not impressed), but to be politically correct , a big "Shabash" to our fellow brothers at the Govt. Big bro from the west too went in for a makeover, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) restructured the psyche's bible "DSM IV" , which got an whopping upgrade to "DSM V", mashallah!! And hey who can forget our darling Deepika Padukone who spoke about her battle against depression! Let's all say cheers to her as well. From the govt., to the medical fraternity and the mass media , a huge domino effect has spilled on mental health, which is noteworthy. Mental health is now being viewed as a serious illness just like any other physiological one.

It feels amazing to stand and watch the ripple effect but, hey something interesting caught my eye recently. I happened to stumble across an innovative start-up titled "YourDost". YourDost is an organisation which holds its presence online and specifically caters to helping anyone who requires anonymous counselling assistance from a splendid platform of over 200 trained and certified mental health experts. To address issues of discover-ability and comfort of talking to an expert, YourDost has built a platform (their website yourdost.com , and also mobile app, android app YourDost and apple app YourDost) where anyone can seek assistance for free. In a nutshell YourDost aims at reducing the stigma attached to seeking help for mental wellness in our country through their impeccable services. With the click of a button or a silent tap on your phone you can get help for yourself or a loved one from YourDost, now such an initiative calls for a standing ovation!!!Disclaimer: I am not paid to endorse anyone or any institution in my blog :)